Adobe Illustrator Strokes & Fills
This week we cover the very basics of Illustrator color tools, stroking and filling, as well as building swatches and color palettes.
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- Illustrator How-To: Make your own Magic Markers
This site is a printer friendly tutorial explaining how to use the Pen Tool in Adobe Illustrator to emulate a magic marker. The site explains the importance and uses for concept drawings in the art business world. The tutorial guides you with diagrams to following along with. Posted on November 1 - Sketch and Draw the Man Stylized - Illustrator/Drawing Tutorial
They used a scanned hand drawing and used the pen tool to draw over it. They then used a stroke and filled in the shapes with the correct colors. Here, they were drawing a stylized man and so filled in the pants with a gradient and then used the gradient mesh tool to add two colors to the shirt to give it more depth. The rest of the man is filled with flat color. Posted on Nov 1 - The Pen Tool in Depth
This tutorial explains why the pen tool in Adobe Illlustrator can be the most important tool in the program. Becoming familiar with this tool will assist in drawing original items with straight and curved lines. To make straight lines just click, and to make curved lines just click and drag. This tutorial also instructs how to change a line that has already been made. Posted on Nov1 - Drawing a Pencil in Illustrator 9 and 10
This tutorial shows us how to create a pencil image in Illustrator. Through the use of the rectangle tool and gradient tool, we can create the basic outline of the pencil. Then, using the pen tool, and rounded rectangle tool, we are able to create the eraser and metal bands. The polygon tool can be used to create the wooden edge and lead point. The image can be resized for optimal aesthetic quality. Posted on - Illustrator Path Basics
To begin, most of what this site covers on vector tools was covered while working with photoshop: Creating a basic object, selecting, adding, deleting, and converting an anchor. However, this site does cover the use of the pencil tool which was non-existent in Photoshop. The pencil tool allows freehand drawing as if using the lasso tool in combination with creating paths. Also covered on this site are selecting brush styles, and dealing with stroke options. Posted on 10/25/2004 - Tools of Adobe Ilustrator
This tutorial focused on an understanding of the program's basic drawing tools, selection tools, and transformation tools, as well as the other tools located within these basic tools. The examples taken from an actual Illustrator tool bar were very helpful and easy to follow when testing the tutorial out for myself on my own personal program. Posted on 10/25/2004 - Creating Objects in Illustrator 10
This web site contains instructions on how to create and work with polygons. These objects are considered complex objects because they can have as little as three sides and as many as 1,000. You can even add sides to your polygon once you've already started by using the arrow keys. Also noted in this lesson is how to work with the similar star tool. Posted on 10/25/2004 - Illustrator Tutorial #1: The Basics
The selection tool is used to selection objects that have been created. We learned the pen tool in Photoshop and it is basically the same. The Ellipse tool is used to create a shape from they're selection. The eye dropper tool copies all features of what was clicked on with the tool. The gradient tool is used to fill an object with gradient. THere are many other tools and these are just a few. Posted on 10/25/2004 - Illustrator Stroke + Fill
This web site explains all the aspects of the stroke and fill commands in Illustrator. It begins by showing how to make the stroke and fill colors using the hollow and solid boxes in the color pallete. It then goes on to explain how to change the transparancy of the stroke or fill, and how to change the stroke weight, ends and corners. One more technique tought at this site is how to incorporate gradients with both fills and strokes. Posted on 10/25/2004 - Illustrator Tips: Organizing Colors and Palletes
I found this tutorial extremely helpful because it showed the importance of staying organized when working with the colors pallete: the initial step to a successful creative process. The tutorial was divided into different how-to sections: removing default swatches from the Swatches palette, working with printed color swatches to choose initial colors, making a color chart to help organize colors; renaming swatches, and creating color variants and make them into swatches. Posted on 10/25/2004 - Illustrator: Magic Marker
This is a really interesting site that shows how to use the pen tool to acheive a magic marker effect. It is a good technique to learn for its stylistic potential in a design, and it has more possibilities than drawing with actual markers. The technique can be used to create highlights over dark lines, and the lines can be manipulated infinitely. The tutorial shows how you can build up layers using varied transparencies to get a really nice and realistic marker look. Posted on 10/25/2004 - Make Heavenly Text - Illustrator Tutorial
This tutorial shows you how to take conventional text and apply a "heavenly" effect to it. First, a duplication of the text is necessary and is followed with a color change to make the front copy emerge. The blend tool is then used to bring the two pieces of text together. The tutorial concludes with a stroke change and the effect is complete. Posted on 10/25/2004 - Text on a Circle in Illustrator 9 or 10
This tutorial shows us how to wrap text in a circular fashion. The path text tool is used to begin the wrapping process. The text must be centered. In order for the text to be wrapped, a second circle must be drawn identical to the first. The text intended for the bottom of the circle should be written on the second circle. The selection tool can be used to drag this part of the text around to the bottom of the second circle. At which point, the student can then put the second circle on top of the first one and align the text to ensure accuracy. While this is a simple process, the end product is visually appealing. Posted on 10/25/2004 - Create a Logo in Illustrator
In this tutorial they used the idea of using the slice tool through a circle they were using as a logo. This tool allows the same object to be filled with two different colors and in any shape desired. You just use the pen tool to draw your line across the shape and then hit slice under the object menu and you can fill your new shape with another color. Posted on 10/25/2004 - Continue with Illustrator Strokes & Fills
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